PMO Learning from ‘Game of Thrones’

Experience is the best teacher, but the bruises of past
project mishaps can leave the team with a
lasting impact and improved skillset. However tough the learning process would
be, project management is a ‘Game of Thrones’ that is unpredictable and tough
to play.

In this article at Project Manager, Mike Clayton suggests
plenty of project management take aways from the most talked about English TV series ‘Game of Thrones’.

The
Correlation

Unlike the world of business, the story of ‘Game of Thrones’
revolves around the struggle for power, politics,
and defeat. In many business schools
across the globe, the series was used as a case study to teach management
lessons to MBA students. Even for project
managers or PMOs, it would be a helpful
way to prepare for the cut-throat competition in the real corporate world. The author divides the learning lessons into three principal
categories:

General Principles: The series suggest ‘Nothing Gets
Built When Everyone is at War’. The project managers need to understand that innovation cannot thrive in internal turmoil
within the organization. It also says ‘If
You Want to Do Something Remarkable, You Need Strong Alliances’ that means big
projects need alignment with diverse stakeholders. The stakeholders have strong
retention power that is helpful in winning their trust. Therefore, remain
vigilant and leave no room for doubt or duplication of work.

Lessons Buried: In the TV series, each house in
‘Westeros’ has its own motto which is referred
to as the ‘House Words’. Now, the learnings
for PMOs here is— ‘Winter is Coming’ that means always
be ready for risk management, ‘Hear Me Roar’ means the team needs strong
determination to deliver desired outcomes.’ Similarly, ‘Unbowed, Unbent,
Unbroken’ explains the value of flexibility for the project managers and ‘We Do
Not Sow’ explains the value of the right
investment in project management that can bring rewards.

Valuable Insights: In this part, the author mentions some inspiring quotations from the
leaders in the series. For instance, ‘A mind needs books like a sword needs a
whetstone’ said by Tyrion Lannister suggests that a good project manager should
be in the constant process of learning. He also said in the series, ‘Most men
would rather deny a hard truth than face it’. This means, deal with the hard
truths before they shatter your project and your career growth.

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